Laundering machines



Jan. 23, 1962 J. J. HAvERsTocK ETAL 3,017,758

LAUNDERING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 12, 1957 Jan. 23, 1962J. J. HAvERsTocK ETAL 3,017,758

LAUNDERING MACHINES Filed Aug. 12. 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 gw, p Pwd-1ATTORNEY Jan. 23, 1962 J. J. HAvERsTocK ETAL 3,017,758

LAUNDERING MACHINES Filed Aug. 12, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTOIIVE'Y Jan.23, 1962 J. J. HAvERsTocK ErAL 3,017,758

LAUNDERING MACHINES lled Aug. 12, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 W D-Pndf UnitedStates Patent O 3,017,758 LAUNDERING MACHINES Julius J. Haverstock, St.Joseph, and Raymond M. Goodman, Benton Harbor, Mich., assignors toPhilco Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsyl- VaniaFiled Aug. 12, 1957, Ser. No. 677,720 6 Claims. (Cl. 68-19) Thisinvention relates to laundering machines and has to do particularly withthe extraction of liquid from wet or damp, laundered fabrics, by aliquid-carrying medium of the general type disclosed in Patent No.2,758,461 to David Tann. The present invention is an improvement overthat disclosed in said patent.

Heretofore it has been difllcult to provide rapid extraction of liquidby a medium of the type indicated and yet to maintain satisfactoryoperation in other respects. Particular difficulties were encountered inproviding a broad and freely extended span of the liquid-carryingmedium, directly exposed to the fabrics, as is desirable for rapidpicking up of the liquid, While yet protecting said medium from certaineffects of the weight and/or the impact of the wet or damp fabrics whichare kept in motion on and against the medium.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention t construct andarrange a liquid-carrying medium in such a way as to make maximum use ofthe liquid-extracting capacity thereof, especially by forming the mediuminto a wall of or a band around a space for wet or damp fabrics, withbroad and freely extended areas of said medium exposed to the launderedfabrics, and at the same time to protect the so-arranged or extendedmedi um from difficulty and injury due to influences such as the weightand/ or impact of tumbling fabrics.

We have found it possible to achieve this object by a construction ofremarkable simplicity. This can briefly be described as employing anextended, flexible, liquid-carrying wall or belt or the like, togetherwith a rigid .structure defining a wall of a tub or the like, on theout- ;side of the liquid-carrying member; said flexible wall or belt andsaid rigid structure being in engagement and particularly in slidingcontact with one another. Such contact is desirably maintained at leastin certain regions, Where influences such as the pressure and/or themotion of wet or damp fabrics would otherwise tend to cause stretchingor bulging of the freely extended, liquid-carrying material.

This engagement or sliding contact of the flexible medium with asurrounding rigid structure has introduced certain further problems,including those of wear and tear of the said medium. It is therefore afurther object hereof to solve such further problems; and this has beenachieved by further development of the structures referred to.Especially, use has been made of certain composite fabric sheetmaterials for said medium, providing material of high resistance toabrasion on one side of the medium and material of high capacity forcarrying liquid on the other side thereof.

A further object is to provide a thoroughly practical machine of thegeneral type described; and still other objects and advantages Willbecome apparent from the consideration of a specic embodiment of theinvention, which will hereinafter be described in detail.

Reference will be made to the drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a preferred embodiment with certainparts broken away to disclose pthers. FIGURE 2 is an enlarged detailfrom FIG- URE l. l

FIGURE 3 shows a modification of the detail of FIG URE 2. FIGURE 4 is anexploded perspective View, on

.a scale smaller than FIGURE l, of apparatus forming 3,017,758 PatentedJan. 23, 1962 part of this invention and particularly embodying themodification of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged diagrammatic view of a small section of theliquid-carrying medium, together with certain parts in contact therewithand also With a schematic illustration of means employed in a method ofmaking such a medium.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective back View of the machine of FIGURE 1 withcertain portions removed to disclose those parts which normally are inengagement and co11- tact with said medium.

FIGURE 7 is a View similar to FIGURE 6 but with those portions in placewhich have been removed in FIGURE 6.

Referring first to FIGURE l: a body 1t) of flexible, liquid-carryingsheeting, forming an extended boundary of a receptacle for fabrics to belaundered and shown particularly as a peripheral, cylindrical wall, beltor band, is surrounded by a slightly larger, substantially rigid andimperforate wall structure 11. The latter structure forms part of a tubwhich also has a vertical, annular front wall 12 and (FIGURE 7) avertical circular back Wall 13. The tub 11, 12, 13 is mounted bybrackets 14, 15, in a cabinet 16. Desirably this cabinet 16 has a frontaccess opening, and suitable provision is made by gasket means 17 anddoor 18 to close this opening.

A support structure for the flexible, liquid-carrying member 10 is shownin FIGURE l and in the left part of FIGURE 4, which part may beconsidered as a portion of the device of FIGURE l. The support structureas shown comprises a rigid, annular, front member or hoop structure 19,a circular back member or hoop structure 2@ and a few rib-like members,rod structures, or bracing elements 21 interconnecting the elements 19and 2li, these ribs 21 being spaced around and slightly inwardly of theperipheries of the annular or circular members 19, 2f), so as to form astructural system 19, Ztl, 21 coaxial with the tub 11, 12, 13. Theflexible liquid-carrying material 10 is secured to and extended betweenflanges, at the outer edges of the structure 19, 20, 21, thereby forminga drum 10, 19, 20 which largely consists of material lll. The axis ofthe drum is substantially horizontal.

Between the outer edges of the structure 19, 20, 21, the flexibleliquid-carrying medium 10 is free to be stretched and otherwisedeformed; and, as best indicated in FIGURE 2, a tendency to causeoutward bulging of this medium is encountered in the lower part of theillustrated matchine, where said medium is loaded by the Weight andimpact of wet or damp fabrics F, tumbling within the receptacle 1l), 19,20. However, an inner surface of the rigid wall structure 11 is disposedclosely adjacent the outer surface of the flexible liquid-carryingmedium 10, and said surfaces are in sliding contact with one another.Thus the flexible medium is supported against excessive stretching,bulging, distortion and the like. Only minor and narrow parts 10 of thearea of the flexible wall 10, in the lower part of the tub, are not sosupported and protected; among the unsupported parts being those whichpass over certain corners and apertures and similar portions of a device22 (see FIGURES 2 and 6) incorporated in structure 11 and engaging themedium 10 for removing liquid therefrom. This device is illustrated(FIGURES 1 and 2) as a suction nozzle secured to the rigid tub 11 by aflange 22 and connected by a pipe 23 to a suction pump 24, the pumpbeing driven by a motor 2.5 and clutch means 26 being interposed betweenthe motor and the pump. Narrow sections 10 of the flexible medium 10,spanning the nozzle apertures etc., are self-supporting, but it will benoted that the material 10, being flexible, tends to conform to anirregularity 22 in the surface of the wall of the tub Wall 11,

although said material, being peripherally extended, is not entirelyable to conform to relatively small irregularities, thereby causing theexistence of the small sections freely spanning certain spaces where.the material is unsupported. So long as the irregularities of tub wall11 are minor, this local lack of support causes no failure and nodifficulty, since even a highly exible, 1nterstitial material isself-supporting to at least some extent.

It will further be understood that during the use of the machine,successive portions of material 10 are flexed by nozzle areas orirregularities 22 or the like, as the portion of material 10 in contactwith nozzle 22 continually changes, the drum structure 10, 19, beingcontinually rotated, as will be described presently. As fabrics F arepresent in the rotating drum, on the flexible'and flexing drum wall 10,these fabrics are slightly shifted relative to one another, during theirpassage over an irregularity such as nozzle 22, and this shiftingcontributes to the dewatering of the fabrics, as it tends to bring thefabric surfaces into closer contact with one another, and some of themwith the medium 10, in a manner somewhat similar to that in which theshaking of a screen tends to concentrate the lines adjacent to the wiremesh and to accelerate their passage through the same. This shifting ofthe fabrics is one of the characteristic advantages of this invention.

The various fabric movements are produced by a simple mechanism. Asshown in FIGURE 7, the motor .25 may be adapted, by a clutch 27 and apulley transmission 28, 29, 30, to drive a shaft 31 arranged coaxiallywith the tub 11, 12, 13; and this shaft, as indicated in FIGURE 4, iscentrally secured to the receptacle back wall member 20, whereby it isadapted to rotate the receptacle structure 19, 20, 2 1 within thestationary tub 11, 12, 13. The shaft 31 runs in a suitable bearing, notshown, in the back wall 13 of the tub. The front wall member 19 of thereceptacle structure may be supported on suitable rollers, not shown, bymeans of an annular flange 32 on said front wall of the receptacle and apair of roller bearing assemblies 33 (FIGURE 6) on the front wall 12 ofthe tub. Both sets of bearings, for shaft 31 and for ange 32, can berelatively light and simple, since a considerable part of the static anddynamic load, incident to the rotation of the drum, is absorbed by thesliding of medium 10 on tub wall 11.

The direction of rotation of the receptacle 15, 19, 20 is shown by thearrow in FIGURE 1. The speed of this rotation is such that the forcescreated thereby, aided by the impelling effect of the ribs 21, causes atumbling motion of fabrics laundered within the receptacle, in additionto the motions described up to this point. In other words, the fabricscling to and rise with the flexible medium 10 in that part of themachine which appears at the right hand in FIGURE l; thereafter theydrop away from this medium, either directly upon an underlying sectionof said medium 10, in the vicinity of the suction nozzle 22, or into abody of liquid retained in the tub.

The machine is shown as being useable either for washing o`r rinsing, orfor damp drying, or for complete drying of fabrics, or for any desiredcombination and sequence of such and similar operations. Accordingly themachine, as shown in FIGURE 7, has inlets 34, 35 for hot and cold water;a mixing valve 36; a tube 37 connected to said valve and a vacuumbreaker structure 38 at the end of tube 37, discharging into a duct 39and thereby into the tub 11, 12, 13. In the bottom of this tub, as bestshown in FIGURE 6, there is provided a sump 40 for the rapid `drainingof free water, and this sump, as indicated in FIGURE l, may be connectedto the suction pipe 23 of the pump Z4, with a suitable valve 41interposed between the sump and the pipe, in order to allow the suctionof the pump to be applied selectively to 4 the suction nozzle 22 aloneor to said nozzle and the sump 40.

There is also provided an air blowing and heating system which as shownin FIGURE 7 has an intake structure 42 and air heating elements 43 in asuitable duct 48, which leads from the front to the back of the apertureof tub 11, 12, 13. A spring 46 is provided for normally holding theclosure 45 closed, and a solenoid mechanism 47 is adapted to open it.Air is removed from the tub 11, 12, 13 by passage means 48 having oneend connected with the tub and another connected with the suction inletof a blower 49 which can be driven by the motor 25 when a suitablecontrol is applied to the clutch 27 by a linkage 5t) connected with thesolenoid mechanism 47.

The way in which the heated air circulates in the interior of the tub11, 12, 13 can best be described by reference to FIGURE l. It will herebe noted that the duct 48, which leads from the front to the back of thecabinet 16, is normally closed in front by the cabinet structure,including a door 51, behind which a front portion 52 of this ductextends downwardly along the front wall 12 of the tub. In a lowerportion of the duct 52 the wall 12 has an aperture 53 (FIGURE 6). Thusthe suction of the blower 49 (FIGURE 7) is applied by the duct 48, 52(FIGURE l) to the inside of the tub 11, 12, 13 through the opening 53(FIGURE 6), thereby allowing the creation of a partial vacuum withinthis tub. At the time when the solenoid structure 47, by clutch linkage50, causes the blower 49 to be driven and to apply this vacuum, thesolenoid structure 47 also opens the closure 45 (FIGURE 7), therebyallowing the partial vacuum within the tub to draw air through the duct44 and heater 43, from the air inlet 42. Thus it will be seen that theblower tends to circulate air through the interior of the tub in agenerally forward, downward and laterally inclined direction from theaperture 45 to the opening 53 (FIGURE 1), so that the air stream crossesthe approximate path of the dropping and tumbling fabrics. Thiscirculation is not significantly deflected by the receptacle 10, 19, 20,since the flexible medium 10 has substantial permeability for air andthe supporting wall members 19 and 20 are of perforated or foraminousconstruction.

Preferably the suction of the blower 49 is applied so as not tointerfere with the upwardly and outwardly directed forces created by therotation of the receptacle 10, 19, 20, said forces being useful as theytend to hold the fabrics against the rising, liquid-carrying medium 10and to drive liquid through the fabrics to be dried and into the medium10. Accordingly the front wall member 19, as shown in FIGURES l and 4,may have annular partition means, such as a felt ring 55, coaxiallysecured to the outside thereof, between outer and inner portions of thiswall member, in sliding contact with the inside of the front wall 12 ofthe tub; the connection 53 between the tub and the air duct 48 beingdisposed on the inside of said felt ring. Thus the above-describedcirculation of heated air (FIGURE l) passes into the receptacle 10, 19,20 through the perforated back wall 20 and the periphery 10,particularly in the vicinity of the inlet 45 in the upper portion of themachine, and thereafter passes in an oblique downward and forwarddirection across the path of the tumbling fabrics to the outlet 53; thelatter being disposed inside the felt ring 55 and inwardly spaced fromthe flexible wall 10.

In order to operate the machine in a complete washing, rinsing,damp-drying and hot-air drying cycle, the operator first opens the frontdoor 18 and introduces the fabrics to be laundered, usually togetherwith a detergent such as soap powder or the like, in the receptacle 10,19, 20. Thereafter the door 18 as well as the air duct access door 51 isclosed, suitable circuitry, not shown, is actuated either manually orautomatically by suitable, well known cycle controls, not shown; and thefollowing cycle of operations is thereby initiated.

The mixing Valve 36 admits water of suitably selected temperaturethrough the vacuum breaker 38 to the tub 11, 12, 13; this water enteringthe receptacle 10, 19, 2t) through the perforations in the walls 19, 2t)and the interstices of the liquid-carrying medium 1t), soaking thefabrics and, in some cases, dissolving the detergent. When the water hasreached a predetermined level, a mechanism such as a tioat switch orpressure switch, not shown, closes a circuit for motor 25. This causesrotation of the pulley system 2S, 29, 30 and, by means of the shaft 311,rotation of the receptacle 10, 19, 20 and of the fabrics therein, at apredetermined velocity, in the direction of the arrow in FIGURE 1,thereby tumbling the fabrics into and through the body of water retainedin the tub. This in turn causes formation of suds, and washing of thefabrics.

When this washing has been applied for a predetermined period of time,suitable circuitry, not shown, causes the sump outlet valve 41 to beopened and the pump clutch 26 to be actuated, while the motor continuesto operate, so that the pump 24 now drains the body of water from thetub 11, 12, 13, largely through the sump 40 and to some extent throughthe nozzle 22. The tumbling of the fabrics continues in the samedirection and at the same speed. While such tumbling continues, the pumpclutch 26 is reversed when the water has been drained; the sump valve`41 is closed, and the mixing valve 36 is now caused to admit rinsingwater to the machine in suitable amount or amounts. Such rinsing wateris thereafter drained from the machine by substantially the samesuccessive operations of the pump clutch 26 and sump valve 41 as havebeen described.

Thereafter the sump valve 41 is closed again, while the pump 24continues to operate and the receptacle 10, 19, 2t) continues further torotate as before, so that from then on residual washing and/or rinsingliquid is withdrawn from the medium 1t)` by the suction nozzle 22 whilethe fabrics continue to shift and tumble. This leads to a relative,progressive drying of the medium 1t), which in turn leads to a transferof liquid and/or dampness from the fabrics to that medium. As the wet ordamp tumbling fabrics repeatedly drop and slap onto the freely extendedand exposed rotating medium 10, adjacent the nozzle 22, liquid isexpelled from the fabrics by forces of impact and centrifugal action aswell as by a very effective application of the forces of capillaryadhesion, causing the liquid particles to leave the fabrics and enterthe liquid-carrying medium readily. They are in turn withdrawn frommedium by the suction nozzle 22.

This drying of the fabrics and of the liquid-carrying medium can becontinued, with intensified action as is required for removing the lastremaining dampness within a reasonable time, by starting the air-dryingoperation. This may start by energizing the solenoid mechanism 47, whichopens the closure 45 and causes the clutch mechanism 56 to start theblower 49, while suitable switch means, not shown, energize the heatingelement 43. The shifting and tumbling of the fabrics by rotation of thereceptacle, and the removal of humidity by operation of the suction pumpmay continue unchanged, although it is also possible to stop the suctionoperation at or suitably after the inception of the airblowing.

It will thus be seen that in the operation of the niachine, surfaceportions of flexible wall 10 and of tub wall 11 are in engagement andsliding contact with one another, mainly in the vicinity of the suctionnozzle 22. This engagement and sliding contact involves considerablewear and tear of the iiexible wall and even ofthe tub wall, particularlyin View of the fact that foreign matter, including abrasive particlessuch as sand grains andthe like, are frequently present as a result ofthe washing of soiled fabrics. It is therefore important that the tubwall 11 should be non-abrasive and should par- -ticularly have no sharpedges or corners or points in contact with the medium 10. Accordingly,wherever sections of the tub wall 11 extend into or out of engagementwith the flexible wall 10, the transitional portions of the tub wallIare rounded, see for instance (FIG- URE 5) the portions 60 adjacent theorifices 61 in the Suction nozzle 22 and likewise (FIGURE 6) the ribs 62which may have to be incorporated in this nozzle in order to reinforceit, and the edge portions 63 forming part of the sump structure 40 wherethis structure is secured to the tub structure proper.

It is equally important to minimize wear and tear by the construction ofthe flexible medium 10. A preferred construction of this medium (FIGURE5) utilizes threads 64, 65 of suitable material extending in onedirection, for instance peripherally, while threads 66 of one of thesematerials, or of still other type, extend in the other direction.Substantially all threads 64, 65, 66 are preferably made of fibers whichfacilitate picking up as well as releasing moisture. Thus the fibersshould not be absorptive in the narrow sense of picking up moisture andretaining it rather than releasing it; they should be absorptive in thebroad sense of tending to pick up and carry moisture by capillarity,adsorption and other processes, subject to ready and easy release of themoisture. The terms absorbing and absorptive are herein employed in thisbroad sense. In order to ensure such easy picking up and releasing ofmoisture, all threads are preferably made of inorganic, synthetic,plastic fibers such as Dacron, Orlon, nylon and the like, not of organicmaterials such as wool, cotton, linen, hemp and the like.

However, different bers and weaves are useful in different parts of themedium. At the outer or wearing surface 67, it is best to employ fibers65 of highly abrasion-resistant material, such as Dacron, preferably ina relatively coarse or large denier weave, which seems to add to theabrasion resistance of the material, but which must still be fine enoughto provide good, broad contact with the nozzle surfaces 6ft. Within thebody and at the inner surface 68 of the medium 1@ it is best to usefibers 64 of Orlon or the like, preferably in a finer or smaller denierweave. The relative sizes of the yarns used for the inner and outerparts of the material 1t) can be approximately proportional to therespective deniers. These differences in weave characteristic or deniercount are schematically indicated by the feature that the Dacron fibers65 are shown as exposed beyond the boundary 69 between inner and outerparts 70, 71 of the body 1t) and that at least two turns of Orlon 64 areexposed at and adjacent the inner surface 68 for every one turn ofDacron 65 exposed at or near the outer surface 67.

The surface yarns and turns, forming part of the said strands 64, 65, orat least the outer Dacron yarns 65, should extend in the direction inwhich the drum rotates, while the warp or fill 66 may extend crosswisethereto. All strands should be twisted or spun, it being found that amere filament or rover provides inferior liquid transfer and, at 65,inferior wear resistance. The preferred materials, a mixture of Orlonand Dacron, have been found to furnish best results when woven to anoverall thickness such that the finished fabric, when dry, weighs about1 to 11A lbs. per square yard; and such fabric has been found to be ableto carry an approximately similar weight of water.

It is further preferred that edge portions 72, 73 of the medium 10(FIGURE 4) should be constructed or treated so as to provide suchportions with added resistance against concentrated stresses, so thatthe material can be fastened to the supporting receptacle structure 19,2f), 21 by a limited number of spaced fasteners, engaging holes 74 insaid edges 72, 73. This can be achieved for instance by dipping the edgeportions in a plastic and then curing this plastic.

As shown in FIGURE 4 this method of fastening may be employed along theperipheral edges of the wall members 19 and 20 and also along thestraight edges of the ribs 21; and in this case it is preferred that theliquidcarrying member be formed of individual sections 75, 76, 77, 78,desirably in the form of rectangular panels, one of which can beinstalled between each pair of ribs 21. This construction allows removaland replacement of some or all of these sections, without disassembly ofthe machine or of any major parts thereof. For such removal the useropens the door 18 (FIGURE 1) and reaches into the front openingsurrounded by the collar 32 (FIGURE 4), takes hold of one portion of anedge 72 or 73 and pulls the fabric inwardly, overcoming the resistanceof fasteners 79 (FIGURE 3) which are inserted in the holes 74 and thecorresponding holes 80 (FIGURE 4), formed in anges 81 of the structure19, 20, 21.

A modified form of a liquid-carrying member 10 and of fasteningstructures for the same is shown in FIGURE 2 wherein the flexiblematerial forms a onepiece ring around the structure 19, 20, 21; thisring being secured to each rib 21 by clamping means 82, 83, interengagedby suitable bolts 84.

Attention may be drawn to the fact that it is unnecessary to form a verytight seal between the'liquid-carrying material 10, 10" and thesupporting structure and that accordingly the spacing between thefasteners 79 may be fairly wide; also corner portions of the flexiblematerial, shown at 85 in FIGURE 2 and at 86 in FIGURE 3, can be suitablydeformed without any attempt to form an-airtight or water-tight seal, solong as the contact between the rigid and flexible materials is closeenoughto prevent the fabrics to be laundered'from working their way outof the rotating receptacle 10, 19, 20.

While only a single embodiment of the invention, with two forms offabric attachment, has been described, it should be understood that thedetails thereof are not to be construed as limitative of the invention,except insofar as is consistent with the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. In a laundering machine: a rotary drum of the type wherein fabricstumble onto the inside of a peripheral wall which substantially consistsof substantially freely extending sheeting, held by the sides of thedrum in a substantially cylindrical but generally loose and exible formand made of fabric adapted to absorb and carry liquid; means to rotatethe drum; and a tub surrounding said drum and having an inner bottomsurface area substantially consisting of rigid metal, curved in generalaccordance with said substantially cylindrical form, extending graduallyinto contact with said drum, and disposed in slidingly supportingcontact with substantial outer surface area of said sheeting.

2. A laundering machine comprising: a flexible, liquid pervious mediumadapted to carry liquid; means for holding said medium in such a way asto loosely define an approximately cylindrical, receptacle of the typeused for the tumbling of fabrics onto the walls whereof; a container,including rigid structure which gradually extends into and is disposedin slidingly supporting contact with outer, lower surface portions ofthe medium; and means for maintaining rotary motion of the medium, insliding relation with said structure, for tumbling fabrics in saidreceptacle.

3. A laundering machine comprising: a rigid, rotatable drum structurehaving a pair of rigid hoop elements, one axially spaced from the other;exible sheeting disposed about the drum structure, substantiallycomposed of interstitial material, having narrow marginal portions in'and the sheeting so as to tumble fabrics therein and thus f to transferliquid from the fabrics to interstices of the sheeting; a stationary tubstructure substantially surrounding the drum structure and having innersurfaces at least in bottom portions of the tub structure graduallyengaging outer surfaces of the sheeting to slidingly but rigidly supportsaid outer surfaces and thereby to prevent distortion of said exiblesheeting; and means for removing liquid from said interstices.

4. A machine as described in claim 3 wherein the drum structure hasrigid flange elements extending between said hoop elements and whereinsaid sheeting comprises a plurality of panels individually secured tosaid hoop and flange elements.

5. A washing machine of the tumbling basket type, comprising: a pair ofrigid hoop elements; means axially spacing and supporting said hoopelements and leaving major peripheral areas therebetween unoccupied; aliquidabsorptive sheeting medium marginally contacted and supported bysaid hoop elements and spanning said major peripheral areas so as toform an approximately cylindrical but slack enclosure of the tumblingbasket; a tub surrounding said hoop elements, spacing means and sheetingmedium and having at least a bottom wall of rigid construction extendinggradually toward and dis-- posed in slidingly supporting contact withouter surfacev portions of said sheeting medium; means for passing;

uids into and out of the tub; and means for removing liquid from saidsheeting medium.

6. A machine as described in claim 5 wherein said sheeting medium is awoven fabric formed of at least two fibrous materials, a rst suchmaterial predominating on the outer side of the medium, being remotefrom contact with any fabrics in the tumbling basket and beingsubstantially composed of highly abrasion-resistant fibres, and a secondsuch material predominating on the inner side of the medium and beingsubstantially composed of brous material having a high liquid-carryingcapacity, whereas individual fibers of both materials are of types nottending to retain liquid in such bers.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 11,659Boynton Sept. 12, 1854 200,807 Wells Feb. 26, 1878 1,098,799 Higdon June2, 1914 1,340,543 Hofmann May 18, 1920 1,396,456 Mueller Nov. 8, 19211,461,354 Inaki `Iuly 10, 1923 1,747,324 Savitt Feb. 18, 1930 1,795,634Boykin Mar. 10, 1931 1,975,230 Jewett Oct. 2, 1934 2,098,994 BarrellNov. 16, 1937 2,161,208 Soderholm June 6, 1939 2,426,806 Williams Sept.2, 1947 2,516,327 Kuhn July 25, 1950 2,523,304 Johnson Sept. 26, 19502,540,874 Geddings Feb. 6, 1951 2,745,444 Longtin May 15, 1956 2,758,461Tann Aug. 14, 1956 2,804,886 White Sept. 3, 1957 2,864,249 Nichols Dec.16, 1958 2,910,185 Wehner Oct. 27, 1959

